


After Rain

by LiteratureLocker



Series: Release Me Now, Kind of Like Dreams Do [1]
Category: Blindspot (TV)
Genre: 3x10, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiteratureLocker/pseuds/LiteratureLocker
Summary: What if Reade hadn't been able to stop Saya from detonating the bomb in 3x10?





	After Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea I got while watching 3x10 that wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it out. It starts canon compliant and then goes a little sideways. This was also conceived before 3x14 aired. Basically this is because these two ladies have way too much chemistry to not take advantage of it. 
> 
> This is also the first in a series of loosely connected one-shots, so be on the lookout for those when I post them.
> 
> Finally, this is unbeta'd, so all mistakes are ultimately my own.

_Zapata and Reade ran through the oblivious crowd going about their business, completely unaware of the danger that they were in if the two FBI agents didn’t get  to the van in time.  As they approached the intersection where the van was parked, Zapata ran left towards the vehicle while Reade ran right after Saya._

Patterson paused CCTV footage that had been recorded on a nearby traffic camera. She sighed and rubbed at her eyes, hoping to erase what happened next from her memory. If she hadn’t been so busy giving Weller and Jane directions to the kitchen to deal with their bomb, she might have been able to stop what happened at the van.

She placed both hands on the table in front of her and leaned heavily on the object, her hip jutting out to the side slightly. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to push play on the video feed again. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was torturing herself by watching it happen. It had been bad enough _listening_ to it in real time. This just felt like something she had to do. She had to see what actually happened out there, had to see that there wasn’t anything that anyone could do, had to see that Zapata was okay after everything.

She exhaled slowly and pushed play.

_The new camera feed closer to the van was grainy, but Zapata in her FBI issued kevlar was hard to miss. She ran up to the van and looked in the passenger window before turning and desperately pulled at the door handle._

_“They’re locked inside with the bomb!”_ Patterson’s mind easily supplied what had been said between the agents as the team worked their different problems.

_After trying both the passenger door handle and the rear sliding door, Zapata took a step back and could be seen barking an order to the refugees in the van. She quickly turned and yelled at the people that had been walking by the van oblivious to everything going on around them. Zapata waved her had frantically left and right causing the citizens to scatter from the area. Zapata had then pulled her Glock, yelled something to the refugees in the van and fired a bullet through the passenger window. She reached in and popped the lock before climbing in._

_A few seconds later, she was grabbing the handle of the sliding door and was ushering the refugees out of the van. The relief that had spread through the Latina’s body was obvious as her shoulders seemed to relax more and more the further the men ran from the van._

_“I got ‘em.” Zapata was frantically waving the refugees away from the van. She turned to the other civilians who had stopped to watch the show unfold before them, their cellphones out and pointed in her direction. “The refugees are secure,” she practically barked through the comms as she turned to the people huddled behind a planter nearby. She started waving at them and pointing to a spot further up the block._

_“Reade?”_

Patterson could still remember hearing the concern in Tasha’s voice as it crackled over the radio during the mission. She took a deep breath and tried to prepare herself for what happened next.

_Zapata could be seen on the footage as she turned to face the intersection to her left. She started making her way in that direction, her hand still gripping her Glock tightly. The tension of the impending fight snapped up her back and settled sharply in her shoulders as she automatically prepared herself to enter the battle currently going on between Saya and Reade a little further up the street._

_As she cautiously made her way towards her partner, there was a flash of bright light to Zapata’s left and maybe 20 feet behind her, causing the camera to stutter with a static filled shot of the street a few times before it shorted out._

The fear and panic that hit Patterson in _that_ moment felt like a punch to the gut, slamming into her with so much force that it immediately left what felt like a frozen brick in its wake. It settled uncomfortably under her skin, heavy and electric and _cold_. She tried to steady her breathing as she moved to click on the next video feed taken from across the street. She didn’t know that Tasha had been _that_ close to the van as it exploded.

As her hand moved toward the link for the new video on it’s own accord, Patterson silently cursed her mathematically inclined brain. If the large pipe bomb had set off a secondary explosion using the van’s gas tank, as had obviously been the plan, Tasha wouldn’t have survived. Her mind ran through the equation several times, each time reaching the same result: Zapata had survived the explosion on _pure luck_. And that did not sit well with Patterson.

She took another deep breath and clicked on the link for a bank’s video feed located across the street. She easily picked out Zapata as she approached the van and disappeared from sight for about thirty seconds before appearing again towards the hood of the vehicle. Her Glock was gripped tightly in her hand, and her body was coiled tightly, ready for action as she moved towards the brawl that was happening about a block away. She zoomed in on the recording so Zapata was front and center.

_The young FBI agent moved up the street, her gun held tightly in her hand as she maneuvered through the throng of people currently trying to leave the immediate area. She pointed in the other direction and could been seen giving commands as the people ran past her, but her focus was on the two men at the other end of the block as they fought over the cellphone detonator. A flash of white blinded the camera as it shook a few seconds later from the shock wave from the blast. The picture flickered a few times before it focused back on the scene unfolding across the street._

Patterson scanned the scene quickly, her mind easily dismissing the people that were fleeing the scene with their hands above their heads, as if that would protect them from a second blast. She easily assessed the wreckage of the van in the lower right portion of the screen and dismissed it just as quickly as unimportant. She knew what she was looking for, and that was the figure that lay motionless and crumpled in the upper left part of the screen.

_The only defining aspect of the broken person currently sprawled on the sidewalk was the barely visible F, B and I that was once so brazenly emblazoned on the back of Zapata’s bulletproof vest. Around her, ash and debris floated almost peacefully on the breeze that was gently moving around the chaos._

Patterson tried to stop the anger from flaring hot and quick through her body. She knew it wasn’t Reade’s fault, that he had tried his best to stop Saya from detonating the device. But in her heart, she did hold the other agent slightly responsible. He was her _partner_. He was _supposed_ to keep her safe. He was supposed to make sure that she came home in one piece.

“God damn it!” Patterson yelled as she slammed her hands down on the tabletop. Of course the team had had close calls in the past, but this one was different. Patterson knew it was because she could watch the footage of the attack instead of just hearing it going on. And if Patterson was being honest with herself, it was also because it was Zapata that got hurt. Usually it was Kurt or Jane that came back with the injuries. Not that _that_ made it better.It always bothered her when one of their own got hurt.

But this was _Tasha._

Beautiful, sweet, caring Tasha. The woman who could make Patterson laugh like no one had in a long time. Tasha who was spending more and more time in Patterson’s lab. Tasha who’s smile could make Patterson’s day that much better. Tasha who broke her heart when she took the job with the CIA.

Patterson sighed, it was time for her to stop lying to herself. Tasha meant so much more to her than a friend. Somehow the fiery Latina had worked her way under Patterson’s skin and slowly had become her world. And if Patterson was being honest with herself, it had been that way for a long time.

The year that the team had spent apart was one of the hardest years of Patterson’s life. Yes, she had gone on to create one of the bestselling apps that was completely awesome if she did say so herself. And yes, she had made more than enough money off of it to live comfortably for the rest of her life. But none of that had mattered without Zapata to share it with.

Patterson hadn’t been able to pinpoint an exact moment when Zapata had come to mean everything to her. As far as she could tell, it started sometime between David and Borden, but had most likely solidified when Zapata had been shot. In fact, she was pretty sure that Borden was a way to distract herself from her developing feelings for Zapata, which meant that she was in more trouble than she had originally thought.

“Why aren’t you at the hospital?” Patterson jumped at the sudden voice that shattered the depressed silence that had settled in the lab.

“Why don’t you wear a bell?”

Jane chuckled as she walked closer to the blonde computer genius. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t really paying attention,” Patterson rubbed at her eyes before she turned to look at brunette.

“Yeah, I noticed.” Jane sighed as she leaned against the table. “Didn’t answer my question though.”

Jane’s right eyebrow cocked as Patterson merely shrugged her shoulders as an answer. “Seriously Patterson. She would want you there.”

“She has Reade.”

“It’s not the same and you know it.”

The two women let the silence settle between them as they simply stared at each other. Patterson finally took a deep breath, “is she okay?” she asked quietly.

Jane nodded. “Yeah, she’s okay. A little beat up, a little bruised, but she’ll be fine.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Jane reached and placed her hand over Patterson’s, stilling them from wringing in nervousness. “I can’t tell you what to do, but I know that she would want to see you.”

Patterson nodded as she squeezed Jane’s hand. “Yeah, I guess.”

“No guessing about it, Patterson.”

Patterson tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “But I couldn’t…”

“Don’t you dare,” Jane interrupted.

“What?”

“I know that look Patterson. You’re about to try and blame yourself for Zapata getting hurt, which is complete bullshit.”

“But…”

“Nope.” Jane shook her head.“This is Saya’s fault. Not yours, not Reade’s. No one’s but Saya. You hear me?”

Patterson diverted her eyes and stared at the table, shrinking in on herself so much that Jane was sure she would have disappeared if it was humanly possible. Patterson’s hand came up and gently traced the prone figure that was paused on the screen in front of them, her eyes glazed over and focused on something obviously not in the room.

Jane let out a little sigh and turned to leave the lab. She knew it was best to leave Patterson alone when she got like this; let her go over it and over it in her head until an answer presented itself. It hadn’t escaped Jane’s notice that the time that it took Patterson to figure out the answer to a problem had drastically decreased once Zapata started hanging out in the lab with the blonde. Her hand was on the door handle when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“I can’t see her like that,” Patterson whispered.

“I know it’s hard, I hate seeing Kurt get injured, but I promise you she’s fine.”

“You promise?”

Jane flinched at the whimper that had escaped Patterson in that moment. She turned back, made it to the blonde in four large strides and wrapped her in a hug. “I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true. She’s going to be fine.”

Patterson nodded against Jane’s shoulder as she pulled the taller brunette closer. “I’m just so scared.”

“I know,” Jane said as she pulled back so she could look Patterson in the eye. “I would be more worried if you weren’t.”

Patterson smiled slightly as she nodded and wiped at the tears that had started falling from her eyes. “I’ll go see her as soon as I shut everything down in here.”

Jane smiled softly at the blonde. “Good. And for what it’s worth, it helps to be able to touch them in situations like this. Helps remind us that they’re okay and still with us.”

Patterson nodded again as Jane turned to leave, her attention turned to shutting down the computers.

“And Patterson...?”

“Hmm?” the blonde hummed as she looked up at her teammate.

“I don’t mean to overstep, but you may want to tell her before it’s too late.”

Patterson cocked her head to the side in confusion. “What?”

Jane smiled mysteriously as she cocked an eyebrow then walked through the door. Patterson watched her go, confusion and dread settling deep in her stomach. There was no way that Jane could know about her feelings for Zapata, right? She shook the thought from her mind as she quickly finished shutting everything down, grabbed her purse and left, remembering to turn the light off as she left.

 

* * *

 

 

Patterson sighed as she tried to navigate the hallways of the hospital. It was a place that she always hated being. The monochrome walls and sterile smell always initiated her fight or flight response. In all honesty, she had no idea why that was her response to being here, but it had always been that way.

She took a steadying breath as she came to a stop outside the room, where she could see Zapata laying on the bed with bandages around her arms and a few smaller ones on her face. Bruising was starting to form in various places around her face, neck and what parts of her arms that were still visible. She could also tell that there was some dried blood in Tahsa’s dark hair.

That thought made her stomach roil in disgust. Zapata always had amazing hair, and she had to constantly fight the desire to run her fingers through it. Now it just looked dull, lifeless and tired.

Much like Tasha herself looked.

She hated seeing anyone she cared for in this situation, but it somehow felt worse knowing that it was Tasha. For someone so small, she had always seemed larger than life and that had always been one of Patterson’s favorite things about the other woman.

But now… now, she just seemed small. And it felt wrong.  Everything about this felt wrong.

She knew she should go inside and talk to her friend, go in and comfort her, go in and tell her that everything would be okay. But she knew she couldn’t. Not yet. Because what she needed more than anything right now was to be told that everything would be okay. _She_ needed to be comforted by Zapata, when it should be the other way around.

How fucking _selfish_ could she be?

Her _best friend_ was currently laying in a hospital bed and she was the one who needed to comforted. That was so wrong on so many levels.

Patterson ran a hand through her hair and took another deep breath, trying desperately to stop the absolute need she had to run in there and gather the small Latina in her arms. She was still trying to figure out her own feelings towards the other woman. The last thing Zapata needed right now was Patterson projecting on her.

Patterson’s breath caught in her throat as Zapata smiled. It was big, bright and one that Patterson considered one reserved for her alone. She couldn’t stop the stab of jealousy that tore through her gut as Reade leaned forward and took Zapata’s hand. The jealousy turned to anger as she realized that Edgar Reade was the one to put that smile on her face.

_This is wrong. I shouldn’t be here. She wants Reade, not you. She needs Reade, not you. She loves him, not you._

Patterson sighed and turned to leave, suddenly feeling like she was encroaching on a very private moment. Maybe they had both finally admitted their feelings for each other. Maybe this was Zapata’s chance to be truly happy, and if that was the case then who was she to try and interfere with that?

She chanced one last look back at her friend, only to find deep brown eyes watching her every move. The confusion and pain that was swimming through them froze Patterson in place. Her own blue eyes darted down to Zapata’s right hand as it seemed to twitch several times, making it seem as if the other agent was imperceptibly reaching for the blonde.

Patterson diverted her gaze and shook her head once, barely detectable unless you were looking for it. Zapata’s eyebrows furrowed in question as Patterson’s gaze caught her once again. Patterson’s eyes darted quickly to where Reade was sitting before she smiled sadly and turned to leave.

She made it to the elevators before Reade calling her name gave her pause. She cursed under her breath and pushed at the call button repeatedly and harsh. “Come on. Come on. Please hurry up,” she whispered, willing the elevators to move faster.

“Patterson, wait up!”

“Fuck,” she growled as Reade’s hand gripped her wrist, pulling her back a few steps away from the elevator that had just arrived.

“Where are you going?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you two. Looked like you were having a moment,” she forced the light and teasing tone into her voice.

Reade scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t like that.”

Patterson kept the too bright smile on her face as she turned to face Ready. “Sure thing, boss man.”

Reade shook his head, his smile hinting at the fact that she was at least partially right. “Come on. She wants to see you.”

“What if I can’t..?” Patterson was surprised that she had said that out loud. She was never one to confide in Reade. Zapata definitely, Jane maybe, Rich on occasion, but never Reade.

“It’s not your fault. If anything, it was mine.”

Patterson was shaking her head before she realized she was doing it, her previous feelings on the situation obviously no longer an issue. “It wasn’t. I know she doesn’t blame you for this.”

“She doesn’t blame you either.”

“Yeah…” she let the implications behind that one word hang heavy in the air between them.

“Just go see her. She would want to see her best friend. They’re going to hold her over night, and I’m about to go to her place to grab her some clothes.”

“I can…”

“No,” Reade interrupted. “You go spend time with her. You both need it right now. That’s an order.”

Patterson sighed and nodded. “Okay, but only until you get back.”

Reade smiled, “that’s fair.”

He stepped into the elevator that had miraculously appeared at the exact moment he needed it, causing Patterson to curse the universe for it’s poor timing.

She stayed staring at the elevator long after the doors had shut. Running a hand nervously through her hair, she turned and looked back down the hallway where she knew that Zapata was waiting for her. “You can do this,” she whispered to herself. “It’s just Tasha. You got this.”

She nodded her head once, determined, resolute as she started walking back down the hall. She didn’t give herself any time to rethink things as she grabbed the door handle and pushed her way into the room. Her momentum carried her further into the room than she anticipated and she tripped over herself in an attempt to slow down.

She heard the snort of amusement coming from the bed, but refused to make eye contact until she had collected herself and straightened out the nonexistent wrinkles in her jacket. She took a deep breath and finally looked at her friend who was staring back with a raised eyebrow and a look of amusement plastered on her face. “Shut up,” Patterson grumbled as she approached the bed.

“I didn’t say anything,” Zapata defended as she raised a hand in surrender.

“You didn’t have to, it was obvious on your face.” Patterson sighed as she plopped herself in the chair Reade had previously occupied.

“No,” Zapata protested.

“No?” Patterson asked, her confusion apparent on her face.

“You’re too far away.”

Patterson chuckled as she scooted the chair closer to the bedside. “Better?” she teased.

“Still too far,” Zapata pouted, her hand definitely reaching out for the blonde this time. Patterson smiled sadly as she moved the chair until it was right next to the bed, her hand reaching out on its own to grab Zapata’s. The Latina smiled as she interlaced their fingers.

Both women sighed at the gesture, finally feeling as if the balance they had so desperately been chasing the past few hours had been found. Zapata’s thumb slowly began to trace patterns across Patterson’s knuckles.

“You weren’t going to come in?”

Patterson couldn’t help but cringe at the vulnerability laced in Zapata’s voice. She tried to pull her hand back, but the Latina was faster as she held on tighter. “I was going to…”

“You weren’t.”

“I was! I just —“ Patterson tried to protest.

“You were running,” Zapata interrupted. “I had to send Reade after you,” she pushed on as Patterson opened her mouth to protest again.

Patterson shrugged, her gaze dropping to the floor. Zapata didn’t push her, knowing that sometimes Patterson just needed a few seconds to gather her thoughts.

“It’s just…” the blonde trailed off with a sigh that moved her whole body. Zapata hated seeing the genius look so defeated and so near implosion. She continued the patterns on the blonde’s knuckles hoping to whatever deity was listening that it was soothing the thoughts in the younger woman’s head.

The silence settled between them and continued on for several minutes before Patterson took a deep breath. “I was scared.”

“Of what?”

Patterson shrugged noncommittally. She was never one to really open up to other people about her feelings. She had gotten really good at making it seem like she was talking about herself, but her rambling often made it seem like she was saying more than she actually was. To be vulnerable right now when her emotions were all over the place and so close to the surface was dangerous.

Zapata tried to move herself closer to the blonde. Patterson’s blue eyes snapped up as Zapata hissed in pain as the movement pulled at some stitches in her side.

“Stop!” the blonde was immediately on her feet, her hands flapping uselessly around the Latina. “Don’t move,” she scolded as her eyes scanned for any new injuries.

Zapata took a few deep breaths to calm herself as the pain subsided. She grabbed at one of Patterson’s hands, and threaded their fingers together again. “Sit down,” she hissed out. “You’re making me nervous.”

Patterson complied almost immediately. “Did you pop a stitch? Do you need me to go get a nurse? Maybe a doctor?”

“I need you to take a breath Patterson. I’m fine, I just moved the wrong way.”

Patterson sighed and deflated, sinking further into the chair. “Okay. As long as it wasn’t more.”

“Now,” brown eyes opened and zeroed in on blue. “Answer my question. What were you scared of?”

“I watched the camera footage.”

It was said so quietly that Zapata would have missed it if she hadn’t been so focused on the blonde. “Why?” she asked, almost as quietly.

Patterson sighed and rubbed her face with her free hand, resigning herself to the fact that she would have to fess up and be honest. “Because it was you.”

“Look at me.” Zapata sighed and tugged on the blonde’s hand when she didn’t meet her eyes. “Patterson, look at me. Please.”

Patterson begrudgingly brought her eyes up to meet Zapata’s. A smile tugged at the corner of the Latina’s mouth. “There’s my girl.”

Patterson could feel the blush creeping up her neck as Zapata continued. “I’m okay Patterson. I don’t know why you felt the need to watch the footage, but I promise it wasn’t as bad as it looked.”

“You don’t know what it looked like!”

Zapata cringed slightly at the blonde’s outburst, “you’re right. I don’t know what it looked like, but I can imagine it wasn’t good based on the look on your face.”

Patterson made a non-committal noise in the back of her throat. She tightened her grip on Zapata’s hand in confirmation. “I wish I could have been there to help you.”

Zapata felt her blood freeze in her veins, the fear of Patterson being hurt in a similar way settled deep in her chest. Her mind immediately brought up the memories of Patterson being tortured by Borden, of seeing her bloody and broken. The heart monitor she was attached to beeped loudly as her heart hammered relentlessly in her chest.

“Zapata, calm down.”

_Why was the room starting to spin? Why couldn’t she catch her breath? What was happening??_

Brown eyes frantically searched for blue as Patterson stood and leaned over the bed.  “Tasha, you need to breathe. It’s ok, I’m right here. Can I touch you?”

Zapata didn’t know what she wanted or needed, so she nodded uselessly, confused at the look of relief that settled on Patterson’s face. The blonde sat down on the side of the bed and reached forward, her left hand cupping Zapata’s right cheek gently. “Breathe with me Tasha. Take a breath in and hold it for a few seconds. Good, now slowly let it out. You’re doing great,” Patterson encouraged soothingly as Zapata struggled to follow along.

Patterson smiled sadly as she took their entwined hands and laid Zapata’s hand against her chest. “You feel that? You feel my heart under your hand?”

Zapata nodded numbly as she still tried to mimic Patterson’s easy breathing. “Good, try and follow my breathing.”

Zapata focused on the steady thumping of Patterson’s heart. That was the only thing she could feel at the moment and she grabbed onto it like a lifeline. After several excruciating seconds, the tightness in Zapata’s chest started to ease and breathing became easier.

She focused on flexing her fingers on top of Patterson’s chest, pleased that her fingers listened to the command. She took it one step further and twisted Patterson’s shirt in her hand, relieved as Patterson’s own hand held hers securely in place.

“You’re doing amazing sweetie. Now try and take a deep breath for me. Deep as you can, ok?”

Zapata nodded and took a deep, shaky breath, held it for a few seconds and then released it. Patterson smiled, “better?”

Taking another deep breath to try and steady her nerves, Zapata swallowed before breathing out a trembling, “yeah. Thanks.”

Both heads twisted to the door as a nurse burst through. Zapata’s grip tightened on Patterson’s shirt again. “Don’t…”

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m not leaving, I’m right here,” Patterson soothed as she leaned her forehead against the side of Zapata’s head.

Patterson shifted her attention to the confused nurse. “It’s okay. Just a panic attack. She’s okay now.”

The nurse nodded but continued into the room, refusing to accept the thinly veiled dismissal in Patterson’s voice. “I still need to check her vitals.”

Zapata whimpered, she fucking whimpered and it broke something in Patterson. She quickly turned and placed a quick kiss against the brunette’s temple. “Don’t pay attention to her, look at me,” she smiled when Zapata turned to look at her, “there you are,” she whispered.

“You know Reade went to get you some clothes, what do you think he’s going to grab?”

Zapata huffed out a nervous laugh, desperately using the obvious distraction “hopefully a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. Something simple.”

Patterson chuckled, “probably not. It is Edgar we’re talking about here.”

Zapata’s eyes darted to the right as the nurse checked her IV line. She stilled as Patterson’s fingers gripped her chin gently. “Don’t look at her, keep looking at me. She’s not going to touch you, just me okay?”

Sighing, Zapata seemed to melt further into Patterson’s touch. “How do you always know what to do?”

Patterson shrugged, “used to have a ton of panic attacks growing up.”

At Zapata’s quirked eyebrow Patterson elaborated. “I went to space camp, competed in Rubik’s cube tournaments and played D&D. Needless to say I know what the inside of a locker looks like.”

The two women let a comfortable silence settle between them as the nurse turned and left the room. Zapata shifted carefully away from the blonde, making room on the bed for her friend. Patterson eyed the brunette carefully and rolled her eyes when Zapata simply pouted at her.

Patterson complied and gently eased herself into the spot next to her, careful not to move too quickly or cause any discomfort. Zapata sighed in contentment as she shifted until she was folded against Patterson’s side, her head on the blonde’s chest and her head tucked under her chin. Patterson hummed while she stroked brunette hair and pressed a fleeting kiss to the top of Zapata’s head.

“You want to tell me what brought that on?”

Zapata shrugged noncommittally as she tired to burrow herself further into Patterson’s side. The blonde sighed as she tightened her grip on the other agent. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. But I’m here and ready to listen if you do.”

The silence seemed to stretch on forever as Patterson tried to calm her racing heart. The severity of their situation was palpable in the room. It was obvious that something big could happen depending on what Zapata chose to do next. Patterson knew which way she wanted to scales to tip, but she couldn’t force Zapata’s hand in this situation.

“I thought of you being on the street with me when the bomb went off. I thought of you with Borden, you being in a bed next to me….”

Zapata took a steadying breath. “I thought of all the times that you were hurt or in danger. I never want to see you like that again.”

Patterson closed her eyes against the sudden onslaught of emotions that slammed into her. She gently rubbed her hand up and down the brunette’s arm as she continued. “I need you to be safe Patterson. I don’t know what I would do if you were hurt.”

“I’m not going anywhere Tash.”

The brunette pulled back a little so she could look Patterson in the eye. “You can’t promise that.”

“You’re right. I can’t,” the blonde sighed. “I can promise to try my best to stay out of harm’s way though.”

Zapata frowned. “That will have to do, I guess.”

Patterson chuckled as Zapata settled back into her side. Tasha was right, she couldn’t promise that she would always stay safe. None of them could, that was part of the job. But what she could promise was that she would always try her best to make it home in one piece, that she would fight with everything she had to make sure everyone got home safe. That would have to do for the foreseeable future. Patterson sighed as she settled further into the mattress and pulled Zapata closer. She fell asleep not long after the brunette drifted off, content that her friend was safe for at least tonight.


End file.
